Safe and sustainable reviews
Angela, one of our cardiac patients
Cardiac services
Great Ormond Street Hospital welcomes the report of the publication consultation on Safe and Sustainable cardiac services. Fewer, larger centres carrying out cardiac services will mean better outcomes for patients, with local centres continuing to provide follow up appointments close to the patients' home.
Large majorities supported the proposed choice of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust as one of the centres (73% of personal respondents and 67% of organisations responding stating a view).
As the largest centre in the UK for children's cardiac surgery, we carry out around 600 surgical procedures a year. This is 200 above the minimum recommended by the review.
We are the only paediatric hospital in the UK to offer the full range of National Commissioning Group (NCG) cardiac services. These are ECMO, bridge to transplant, heart transplant, tracheal services and pulmonary hypertension.
Although legal challenge from one hospital has delayed a decision until next year, there is still very strong support from clinicians and patient groups to move to fewer, larger centres.
A patient undergoing MRI scanning in the hospital's imaging suite
Neurosurgery services
A review of the UK's neurosurgical paediatric services is also underway. Children's neurosurgery is extremely complicated and specialised.
In order to ensure the best outcomes for children who need neurosurgery, surgeons in the field and other clinicians have called for a review of how neurosurgical services are delivered to children in England.
One of the key elements to improving services is that there is 24/7 advice and support to all children with an urgent neurosurgical condition from a childrens neurosurgeon.
Around fifty neurosurgeons operate on children, of which only a very small number are in the full-time children's neurosurgical posts across three centres. The remainder have a mixed adult and paediatric practice.
Great Ormond Street Hospital has been shortlisted to remain a specialist Neurosciences centre and with over half of children requiring surgery for epilepsy in the UK being treated at GOSH we expect to retain this status.
We are working towards treating an additional 20% more patients by building better facilities in the Morgan Stanley Clinical Building and increased capacity in phase 2B of the redevelopment.
